Gravity-conveyer.



No. 887,421. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. J. T. H. PAUL-i GRAVITY GONVEYER.

APPLIOATION IILED JAN. 2, 1908.

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J. T. H. PAUL.

GRAVITY OONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1908.

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J. T. H. PAUL.

GRAVITY GONVEYBR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2. 1908.

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dag/v I W A JOHN T. H. PAUL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO E.

ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF GOLDMAN & CO., INC., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAVITY-CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

Application filed January 2, 1908. Serial No. 409,069.

-To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. H. PAUL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Gravity-Oonveyers, of which thefollowing is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the class of conveyers used inbuildings for conveying packages from one part of, or elevation in, thebuilding to another, the generally-stated construction of conveyor inthis class consisting of an inclined rollertrack, the inclination beingsuch as to cause the packages to move by their own gravity upon therollers.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofsuch a conveyer in matters of detail to the ends of facilitating itserection and taking-down, the adjustment of the parts for attainingreadily the proper degree of inclination, and of enhancing theefficiency of the device.

Inthe accompanying draWings Figure l is a broken plan View of theconveyer showing a switch for deflecting packages to a straight or acurved branch Fig. 2, a similar view of the skeleton of the track; Fig.3, a broken view in side elevation of the conveyer, showing itsinclination; Fig. 4, a View in cross-sectional elevation of the conveyeron a larger scale than that observed in the preceding figures andshowing the telescoping construction of the track-supporting stands;Fig. 5, a View in side-elevation, slightly broken, of one of thesestands; Fig. 6, an enlarged broken section throu h one of thetrack-rollers, showing its bal bearing construction; Fig. 7, a brokenenlarged section taken through the switch-pivot at the line 7-7 on Fig.2; Fig. 8, a section taken at the line 88 on Fig. 9, through thehookform of connection between sections of the track; Fig. 9, a viewshowing said hook-connection in elevation; Fig. 10, a section taken atthe line 1010 on Fig. 11, through a permanent form of connection to beused, in instances, instead of the hook-form thereof, and Fig. 11, aView showing the said permanent form of connection in elevation.

The track consists of a series of sections each made up of a air ofangle-irons 12, 12 connected at suitab e intervals in parallel relationby tie-bars 13, and anti-friction-rollers 14 ournaled in close proximityto each other in the vertical web-portions of the rails 12.

Each roller is a cylindrical tube with ball-cups 15 (Fig. 6). confinedin its opposite ends and cones 16, 16 cooperating with them to form theraces for balls 17, each roller being supported by a rod 18 passingcentrally throu h it longitudinally to permit the cones to e screwed onits threaded end-portions, and f the rollers are secured in position onthe rails 12 by a nut on the projecting end of the rod and a cap-screw19 passing through the opposite vertical rail-web and screwing into theouter end of the adjacent cone. Thus,- by loosening the cap-screw andscrewing the cones on the threaded ends of the rods, the ball-bearingsmay be adjusted according to requirement; and when adjusted, by tightening the cap-screw, the roller is securely fastened in place. The cup15 is a solid piece, either drop-forged or turned, shrunk -or pressedinto place, thereby insuring full contact throughout their contactingsurfaces and a tight fit, without any need for riveting them.

Each stand 20 for supporting the track consists of a pair of uprightlegs 21 formed of telescoping sections 22 and 23 sup orted on anexpanded base 24, preferably of the form shown, and the legs arereinforced by a tierod 25 extending between the heads 26 of the bases,and by a cylindrical tie-rod 27 extending between coupling-heads ends ofthe sections 23. The sections 23 carry stops in the form of collars 29fastened by set-screws 30 for supporting the sections 23 in any positionto which they are raised or lowered in the sections 22 for adjusting thetrack to the desired degreeof inclination. On the tie-rod 27 of eachstand is journaled 28 on the upper a bar 31 by having its ends 32 bentto extend at right-angles and loosely surround the tierod near its ends,beyond stop-pins 33 extending transversely through this tie-rod for apurpose hereinafter explained. On the top of each end of the rock-bar 31is fastened a short angle-bar 34 to aflord seats for the rails 12.

To erect a conveyor with the stands 20 and sections of roller tracks,the stands are placed at desired intervals apart to coincide with thejunctions of meeting track-sections, which are preferably of uniformlength, say. of eight feet, more or less. With the stands set inposition their upper sections 23 are adjusted telescopically to extendthe seats 34 V to the proper relative heights to produce the redinclination of the conveyer, and the er-track sections are placed on theseats, adjusting themselves longitudinally with relation to each otherby the turning of the seats through the rocking manner of supportingtheir sustaining bars 31, which cannot turnunduly before thetrack-sections are placed in position, because of encountering,

in either direction, the projecting ends of thestop pins 33. Contiguoustrack sections may be tied endwise together either by a hook 35 (Figs. 8and 9) secured on one section near its end to engage a stud 36' on theadjacent end of the other section and be releasably fastened by a nut 37screwing on the stud, or by a plate 38 (Figs. 10 and 11) crossing thejoint between sections and securely fastened near its ends by studs 39with a bolt 40 passing centrally through it at the joint and clampingthe two contiguous rail-ends of the adjacent track-sections together bya nut on its outer end. The hook is more suitable for a temporaryconnection, rendering the track-sections readily separable where it isdesired to adapt the conveyer to be taken down from one position to beerected in another; while the plate-con- 44 su ported at its ends oneither one adequate y wide stand 20, or on two such stands of the samewidth as the stands at other points along the track, as will be readilyunderstood. The freeend of the switch 41,

which is a track-section like the others and is provided with a handle45, bi which to move it, is supported to shde on t e plate 44, and atthe center of its opposite end it carries a tongue 46, extending from across-bar 13 and pivotally connected with the cross-bar of the adjacentend of the main conveyer-track.

able on rollers or casters.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Agravity-conveyer comprising, in combination, a roller-track formed insections,

ported at intervals, each stand consisting of a pair of braced uprighttubular sections rising from an expanded base and a pair of braced uppertubular sections telescoping said first-named sections, with means 'forsecuring the upper sections in adjusted position.

2. A gravity-conveyer comprising, in combination, a plurality oftelescopic stands each having its side-members connected by uppertie-bars, bars pivoted to said tie-bars and stops for preventing undueturning of said pivotal bars, track-seats on the ends of the pivotalbars, and a roller-track consisting of sections supported on said seats.

3. The ro ler-track of a gravity-conveyer, consisting of connectedsections composed of rails connected atintervals by tie-bars, androllers formed of cylindrical tubes having solid ball-cups pressed intoand thereby rigidly fastened in their opposite ends, a rod extendingcentrally through the ball-cups in each roller with conesscrewed uponthe ends of the rod to form the ball-races, and bolts passing through arail of each track-section into the cones adjacent to such railfor'securing the cones in adjusted position on the rod.

4. A gravity-conveyer comprising, in combination,.a plurality oftelescopic stands carryin pivotal rail-seats on their upper ends,

a ro er-track formed in sections supported on said seats,branch-sections in said track, a switch-section pivotally connected atone end with the main track, and a slideeplate on which the oppositemovable end of the switch-section is supported to meet the adjacent endsof the branches. a JOHN T. H. PAUL.

In presence of L; HEIsLAR, R. SCHAEFER.

and stands on which said sections are sup-

